Porta Vac - Your next profit booster!

CWS service providers like you love equipment that makes them money. While we're sure you'll agree that the Porta Vac pictured above is beautiful, it's only when you understand just how it can fit into your operation that you'll love it as much as we do.

In this edition of the Gazette, we want to share with you some of the details of a CWS operator that uses Porta Vac each and every day to increase profits.

​Here's our interview with CWS operator Paul Caminata:

​CWS: Could you give us a brief overview on how you use the Porta Vac?​Caminata: Sure, we mostly leave it on the truck. If you're mostly a washout provider, you'll leave it on the truck most of the time. We can haul our empty dumpsters with the Porta Vac on the truck - a ten or twenty yarder or even a forty yarder with a flag. We can generally even haul a full ten-yarder with the Porta Vac loaded.

​CWS: How do you load and unload the Porta Vac? ​Caminata: We get it on and off with a Bobcat. There are fork pockets on the bottom, so it only takes about five minutes with a spotter and a driver. The spotter will put the pins in to secure the bin to the truck. We have a traditional vacuum truck, but now we rarely use it - only when we have multiple bins in the same location that need vacuuming.

​​CWS: What's required to empty the Porta Vac?​Caminata: Emptying takes fewer than five minutes. In our case we just empty it on to our washpad where the liquid is moved via sump pump to our water treatment system. ​​Usually, the waste water comes in with a pH of 10 or 11. The water system has four tanks, so evaporation can be significant, but if we need to release water, we're licensed to release into the municipal sewer at a cost of about $34 per 2500 gallons.

​​CWS: Could you tell us about maintenance?​Caminata: Primary maintenance is just dumping it. Additionally, it's a good idea to flush it out with the pressure washer every week or two. Don't let it sit overnight with material in it either. A few times a year we shovel out whatever solids have accumulated, which isn't too much trouble since the material is moist and slurry like. It's powered by an eight horsepower Honda, so you've got the normal maintenance there and legendary reliability.​​​CWS: How many gallons does the Porta Vac hold?​Caminata: It's got a 280 gallon capacity. Vacuuming a bin takes under ten minutes and only very rarely is there more liquid in a bin than we can vacuum. ​​In those cases, maybe one in fifty, we'​ll offload enough water into the new bin (if we're dropping one) so that we can be off and running.​Only about one percent of these instances require a second trip for us.

​CWS: What effect has the addition of a Porta Vac had on your business?​Caminata: It's had a huge beneficial effect. Today, for instance, we've got 5 runs and I'm using a single truck to fulfill two purposes. One site is about 25 minutes out, so I'm saving about an hour of truck tine on that job alone. On top of the time, there's an incredible amount of headache and hassles avoided because I don't have to deal with coordinating the arrival of two different trucks at each site - we used to have concrete workers washing out in between the arrival of the vacuum truck and the roll-off truck, which resulted in huge headaches for everyone. It was a daily headache that is now pretty much gone.

CWS: About how much of your revenues come from CWS services?​Caminata: Almost forty percent.

CWS: Thanks, Paul for your time.​Caminata: My pleasure!

CWS Locator - Bringing business to you!

Businesses like yours have contributed to Concrete Washout being a recognized brand among builders large and small across the entire country. Countless builders and SWPP engineers specify that CWS containers be placed on their jobsites.

​What you may not know is that CWS receives many phone calls asking for local service providers - of course, we're delighted to refer them directly to you. What is more, each month, the CWS Locator receives the second most hits of any page on our top-rated website - between two and three hundred unique visitors each and every month are finding CWS providers like you on the CWS Locator. Here's to many, many more in the coming years.

Construction Forecasts - AIA, Dodge and others

Among the multitude of statistics published by organizations related to the construction industry are those produced by the American Institute of Architects. We favor their statistics over some others because architects are obviously involved at the beginning of the construction cycle. In the graphic above, scores above 50 represent an increase in projects for each region from April 16 to April 17 - all regions are showing growth with the South and Midwest leading the charge.

Additionally, AIA data suggest the institutional and commercial/industrial sectors are still stronger than the residential sector - a perspective consistent with what we've heard from many of you.

But don't fret the housing sector entirely as Dodge is predicting an increase in the value of housing starts in 2017 with single family housing predicted to increase an impressive 12%.

​Another forecast that we're fond of is the Portland Cement Association's prediction that 3.5% more concrete will be produced this year over last.

​Naturally, national statistics have limited value to companies operating on the local level exclusively. Nonetheless, we take away optimism that these trends are almost exclusively indicating at least modest growth.

Steel - Good news, bad news

Just as busy architects are a sign of good news in the construction industry, it's a good sign for the economy when steel fabricators are busy. Well, steel fabricators have been very busy. The end result is that some fabricators are booked solid for the next six months! At CWS we're pleased to have sufficient volume to keep the attention of our wonderful steel fabricating partners, but lead times are still a challenge. If you think you MIGHT need a container, it's time to start making plans. We know that it's extremely disheartening to disappoint a customer that needs a container, so please, keep sufficient inventory on hand to meet that demand and build in a buffer for delivery. It's a good idea to be in touch well before you're ready to place an order - it'll help us serve you best.